Asylum seeker is allowed to stay

STAYING: Abdoulaye Diabate (left) has been successful in his fight to seek asylum in this country, after strong support from Oldham Unitarian Chapel, which also helped asylum seeker Taha Ghasemi (right) to stay in England

AN Oldham asylum seeker who feared for his life if deported has won his battle to stay in the UK.

More than 2,000 people and Oldham Unitarian Chapel pledged their support to Abdoulaye Diabate, who fled Africa’s Ivory Coast in 2006, after imprisonment and torture.

Campaigners are celebrating the news that Abdoulaye has been granted discretionary leave to stay by the UK Border Agency.

He will be able to live here for three years and has the right to look for work.

This is further success for chapel members who rallied around Taha Ghasemi, an Iranian who was also granted asylum earlier this year after facing similar dangers in his home country.

After hearing the news, a delighted Abdoulaye made an emotional speech to chapel parishioners and expressed his thanks with a large card.

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